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Fox Entertainment CEO: 'Clarity of message' helped drive strong upfront sales

FOX (US)'s "potent" combination of sports and high-end entertainment content drove the network to strong upfront sales, according to Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier.

Speaking at an industry conference Sept. 11, Collier told investors that the broadcast network's positioning struck a chord with media buyers. During the upfront, media companies look to sell commercial inventory within their upcoming TV schedules to ad agencies representing various brands.

Collier said the upfront was also shaped by media industry consolidation that has resulted in AT&T Inc. buying Time Warner Inc. and its Turner assets, and The Walt Disney Co.'s purchase of most of 21st Century Fox Inc. The latter saw Fox Corp. emerge in March as a U.S.-centric company focused on sports and entertainment which also boasts cable news leader FOX News Channel (US).

Media buyers knew what they were getting from the company, Collier said. "There's the clarity of our message, and again, not just the pricing reflects it, but I think the volume reflected that as well."

FOX also benefited from macro trends. Declining ratings in linear TV, owing in large part to consumers' changing viewing habits prompted by ad-free subscription streaming services such as Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video, bolstered upfront sales.

Fewer ad impressions lifted prices, Collier said. "From a programmer's point of view, scarcity is a friend," he said. "If you have scarcity and massive reach, I think that that's what's driving your price increases and we were on the high end of that as a broadcast entity." FOX reaches 140 million households per week, he said.

Collier believes FOX is coming into the fall with momentum behind the reboot of TV series "90210," which resonated this summer, and excitement generated by reality competition show "The Masked Singer," which will have two runs during the 2019-2020 TV season. The network's fall sports lineup includes college and pro football, Major League Baseball's postseason, topped by the World Series, and "WWE Smackdown Live" on Fridays, starting Oct. 4.

This sort of content mix is "really what broadcast does best," he said.

The upfront period saw ad clients return after a few years away from the network, Collier said. "You measure by who comes back and whether they increase their spend," he said, "and we're liking our trends there."